Anybody who knows me knows that I have an almost unhealthy addiction to crumble! As soon as Autumn creeps in, I set about experimenting with new recipes to keep us comforted through the (admittedly not so cold) NZ winter months. Right up until early summer, when I really feel like fresh fruit is the way forward, I eek out the crumble season for as long as possible. I make toppings in slightly larger batches than necessary, so I can squirrel away mini sandwich-bags full in the freezer. These are perfect for whipping up little midweek ramekin sized crumbles whenever the mood strikes.

As you'll gather from a lot of recipes on this blog, we recently found out we have a gluten-free child to accommodate. Not that it's a problem, but it does mean a lot more experimenting and adapting, which is actually quite satisfying. Whilst starting to pack up some of our kitchen cupboards in preparation for moving house, I realised we had an awful lot of different gluten free baking products that people had very kindly given us...

I decided to put them all to good use for a crumble experiment - which I can tell you went down so unexpectedly well with the household I made it for, that I was dishing out seconds to everyone before I'd even had a chance to taste it. I had no expectations for it whatsoever but have now made this four times in the last few weeks for different dinner occasions!! It has been loved, enjoyed and well received by all, so as requested here is the recipe, with love...

*I am going to experiment with coconut sugar instead of brown sugar next time for a healthier option.

**This topping could be used for any number of fruit but these are what we chose here. The plum juice was too good to just pour down the drain so we set it aside and mixed it with water/sparkling water like cordial to have with our pudding... even better :)

My little helper writing down as we went the second time!

First of all combine your 3 flours in a large bowl.

Add your cubed butter and squashing it between your thumb and fingers, gently rub it in till it resembles fine sand - you could do this in a food processor as well, but we don't have one yet and I actually find crumble making quite therapeutic.

My trusty assistant hard at work before and after my butter 'squishing'

4. Line your crumble dish with the fruit, cut up any pieces that are too big, then top with the crumble mixture.

Line the dish with fruit - we usually just mix everything up but Arabella liked the artistic approach for this photo - and top with crumble

5. Bake in the oven at 170 degrees C for around 30 minutes, oven temperatures vary though so just be aware that when it smells done and delicious, it probably is. It should be lightly golden on top and some of the juices may well ooze up the side of the dish. Yum!

Deliciously done...

NOTE: The crumble can be refrigerated if made ahead of time until required - I quite often put it in the oven once we take the dinner out so it is fresh and piping hot for dessert. To take it to a friend's house, I have also made the topping ahead of time, put that in a sandwich bag and simply opened the tins and assembled before cooking - this saves any unnecessary juice getting spilled on the floor of the car or in your lap!

Enjoy your delicious crumble with vanilla ice cream or plain yoghurt and relish the oohs, aahs and yummy noises that will come from everyone eating it :)

The inspiration for this recipe was sent to me via Pinterest and came from tasteofhome.

We altered it to be gluten free, omitted the walnuts as our gf daughter doesn't like nuts (booo!) and did away with the sugar syrup drizzle as we prefer something a bit more plain for lunch boxes and after school snacks. Apparently the glaze can help lock in moisture to make it last longer, but that's never really been a problem in our house! Feel free to revert back to the original recipe linked above though if you'd like the other ingredients and quantities.

Once cooled (or my personal preference while it's still a bit warm) cut into slices - it should yield around 16 but for little ones I cut these in half again. Enjoy preferably in the sunshine with good friends and or happy children.

This was one of the first recipes I wanted to trial when I decided on lemons for August. I'd seen a few scrummy looking pictures on Pinterest and so read various recipes. Most of them didn't use white chocolate however and I couldn't quite make peace with the notion of blondies (basically white chocolate versions of brownies) without chocolate in them. For years I have made the most delicious Christmas Pudding Blondies for New Year's Eve with leftover Christmas Pudding, and I think my family would be a little disappointed if I decided not to do them one year! I always get requests for them and have shared the recipe with numerous people who now do the same (I think it originally came from a Sainsbury's magazine - it's cut out in my Christmas folder so I will try to track down the exact origin and share it later in the year). The recipe as follows was slightly adapted from a plain lemon one I found and my Christmas recipe, and adjusted for the fact it needed to be gluten free. It could have been a disaster - hey that's what experimentation is all about - but was a surprising runaway success, literally! Within 12 hours there was nothing left and the girls are keen to help whip up another batch this weekend...

Before you get started on the mixture, preheat the oven to 170 degrees and line an 8x8 inch brownie pan with baking paper. Then...

Melt the chocolate with the butter. You can use a bain marie, but I have adopted the lazy girls microwave method as I find it much less stressful with kids and no boiling water & hot pans to worry about. Put the chocolate and butter in your jug or bowl, cover and heat for a minute in the microwave at 80% heat. After the first minute I tend to go in 30 second intervals till it's almost melted, then just mix it all together till it fully melts.

Add the sugar and stir then leave to cool slightly (if you don’t do this you may end up with scrambled egg brownies).

Whilst this is cooling whisk the two eggs together with the lemon zest & juice.

Once the mixture has cooled slightly, beat in the eggs and lemon.

Fold in the flour and salt and give a good mix till everything is well combined.

Pour into your cake tin and bake for 25 - 30 minutes till it is a nice golden colour and still a tiny bit soft in the middle. This will set as it cools and make it all the more delicious.

Leave to cool in the tin before transferring to a wire rack. Whilst it is cooling make the glaze by sifting the icing sugar together with the lemon zest and juice.

Once the cake is cool spread the glaze over - you can let it soak in and set a little before giving a second coating. Cut up into your desired size pieces, dust with a little extra icing sugar and enjoy - preferably with very good friends who will love you for it!

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Lovely Lyrics ...

"If the world was mine, I'd tell you what I'd do, I'd wrap the world in ribbons and then give it all to you. I'd teach the birds such lovely words and make 'em sing for you. I'd put the stars right in a jar and give them all to you." - Melody Gardot